Adjustable suspended scaffolding.



',E. WHITNEY.

' ADJUSTABLE SUSPENDED .SCAFFOLDING.

APPLICATION FILED AUG-3|. m5.

Patented Oct. 30, 1917;

EGIBERT WHITNEY, 7 OF To an whom it" mafe concern:

Be 'it known that I, EGBERT WHITNEY, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of Omaha, in the county of Douglas and State of Nebraska,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in AdjustableSuspended Scaffolding, of which the following is a specification. 7

My invention relates to scaffolding of the class particularly adaptedfor use in the construction of high buildings, wherein a frame ofstructural steel, reinforced concrete or the like is first erected, andwalls of masonry or the like afterward built onto such frame. It is theobject of my invention to provide a safe and durable .scalfoldinghaving? a wide platform suitable for the use of masons andcapable ofsupporting quantities of'the materials used in buildings, as well asbeing 7 adapted. for the passage of workmen car rying such materialstothe masons; to provide substantially integral all-metal"platform-sections; to provideoverhead protectingmeans for the workingplatforms;

to provide "simple and eflic'ientf5hoisting means for the raising andlowering ofthe platforms; a'nd'to provide various other novel'and usefulconstructions and .combi nations'ofparts'as will be more fully set"forth hereinafter.

In the accompanying draws Figure 1 is a perspective view of a section ofscaffolding embodying my invention, thesamebe,

ing in position ready for, use upon the frame of a building, Fig. 2'is adetail per spective view, from beneath, of a portion of one of theplatform-sections, Fig. 3'is a detail bottom view of the devices forconnecting theplatform-sections to the hoisting machines, Fig. etis adetail end view of one o-f theoutrigger's, Fig. 5 is a'detail side view'of aparctr thesame, Fig"; 6 is a detail trans-"f verse verticalsectional view -of parts of the guard-rail and overheadgcoverin'g andthe supportstherfcir, Fig."7 isa detail longik tudinal sectionalfvie'wshowing certain of the connecting devices, 'Fig- 8 isa similar Viewshowing {the platform and cable-end connectionaand Fig.19 is a'detailtran'sverse section-"of one; of the Outriggerashowingf thesheave-lock; a Y

Inf carrying out my 'infventionl employany required numberofplatform-sections' A, each which is substantially integralSpecification oftLette rs lateiit,

1 and ismade of metal throughout, and comprises, preferably, acontinuous rectangular OMAHA, NEBnAsKiuAssiGNoR rorisncnirs'nlsoarroimiive I --coiviPAivY; OF OMAI-I A,'NEBBASKA. .7 o

ratei t do t; .301, 1917 Applica tion'filedAugust31,1915, s eriaiimiasiei frame'l of angle section, intermediate trans- :verse angle-bars 2of-which theends are 'fiXedly' and 'permanently'secu-red to the lo'n-a.

gitudinal portions of-"the frame lias shown:

in Fig. 2, and acoveringor floor 3 offsheete metal which is fixedly andpermanently see-3r curedto the frame formed bylthe members-L.

1 and 21- Th'esaid platform-sections Aai'e 31 made up convenientlengths, such as ten;

or twelve feet, and are of such widththat,

when infuse there is ample transverse space thereon for the masons; forbuilding may terialf for their use, and for the "passage. ofotherworkmen in conveying the building material to place, 1

pended from suitable out'riggers' B which When in'use the platformsectionsare sus are'securedto the upper 'partsof the build-,1

ing-frame C, projecting out-beyond thesides thereof at intervalsthesameasthe length :of" the platform-sections, was shown in Fig. "11'"-*For a single platform-section two offthe Outriggers-are required, butwhen 7 I a plurality of the sections are disposed con-:

tinuously along the side of abuildingthereis needed but one"moreof"theOutriggers than thenumber of platform-sections, since each oftheintermediate Outriggers will! .185

serve to upport the adjoining ends (if-t Of the platform-'se ti 1 I,

Inthe structure illustrated the Outriggers 1 each consist of tWoparallelbeams 4 whichl are spaced slightly apart,- enabling sheaves 5 to bemounted between them on the projecting end portions thereof, thesheavesbe-"t be' sus'pended' therefrom? i-On'e or the;

sheaves, orboth if desired, is provided with' meanfs'ffo'r' locking thesame to prevent r'otatiorrthereof. suitable lockingfmeans for; the;sheav'es' is illustrated Figs, '5 and 9, j

and consists in the provision of a series iofi;

notches'dn the peripheral portion ofwthec sheave, a; movable latch orplunger-8 dlS-j posed on a guide-block 9 securedbetween thef rbeamsfaspring 1O normally; pressmgthe latch toward the sheave to engageth'e end thereof in one of the notches, and a cord 11 or 'th'e likeconnectedwith the latclrand hanging therefrom, so that by pulling thecord the latch may be disengaged from the sheave and the latter leftfree to rotate.

Thev'sheaves are provided peripherally with V-shaped gro0ves,such thata: cable of suit-" able size will tend to bind therein, and not sliprelatively thereto when passed over the -same. a g e I The;platform'secti0ns are suspended i from i thesupportingoutriggers bycables 1240f which one :endeof each'is connected with the sections nearthe outer edges thereof, passing upwardly therefrom and around the outersheave of the respective, outrigger, thence horizontally to the innerisheave,

thence around'the latter and downwardly to a hoistingLmacliine D byWhiCliJlt. is connected with the inner ged ge s .of theplatformsections. I v

Thehoisting machines employed are preferably of the type shown inLetters Patent No;'=1,1;1l,882, issued to H16O0t0bfl1727 191 4.. Each assaid hoistingzimachines comprises, briefly, a frame havingvertioal-i'ods l3 on I whic'hz-are mounted two clutch-devices '14 andlithe first being fixedly connected with the frame, theother beingvertically slidable on saidrods 13, and a lever 16 whichis-connectedwith the ,slidable clutch for moving ita-re'lativel-y to theother. Thecable passes upperv and lower cross-bars 25 and-19 ofthe inachine-frame,and may extend on down 7 below the machine indefinitely.

, Forconnecting the ends of the "cables 12 Withthe outer partsof theplatform-seer tioiis, said ends .0f;-the cables have secured thereoi'i.bars 17 of which: the ends form hooks, each adapted toengage-thedepending flange atitheeend of the frame 7 l of a- :platfornisection,iasishownclearly in Figs. 1 and; v

8.-= Near the, opposite or inner sides of said frames 1 there aresecured on the ends theretionszarerofi'set transversely fromeach otheras shown. in Fig 3;, so that one ofv the bars 1 of the :Z-bars 18 whichare adapted toengage the aloiter cross-bars 19 of'the hoisting machines,asqsh'own in Figs, 1 and V7 Thez barskoiiadjoining ends of theplatform-secwiil beiat each side of the depending pordisposediairoundwthe cables 12 i and having their flower lends v(resting on, theghook-bars 17 asshown in Fig. 8. The guard-rail is pro Vided withopenings for the cables, and rests on the upper ends of the pipes 21, asshown ting or the like, -is' secured to the guard-rail and extendsdowntherefrom to the outer 'edgeof the platform; as shown in Fig. l.

" It is also desirable in nearly all instances to providea-covering oroverheadkshield, to

protect 'workmen on the main or working platform-sections A from iii uryby ob ects I falling upon them from above. ic sucha coveringisconveniently supported by means of tubularstandards or pipes 28 and 24dis- I in Fig.6. A screen or guard22,'oif \vire'netposed around theinner and outer vertical e -,portions ofthecables 12, the outer pipes24:, -,resting on the guardrail as shown in Fig. 6, the .inner pipes 23resting on the upper crossbars 25 of the. hoisting -machine frames, andthe length of said pipes being such that their upper ends are at thesame rests upon the upper ends of said pipes 23 and 24:, being prov dedwith openings for ,the passage of the -cables through it, and ,1 thebody-portion of the shield being of any desired material andconstruction,

V 185 v level Thecovernig or. overhead shield 26 v The operation ofraising and lowering the, SCELfl OlClIDg will be. lGiIClllY apparent. By

suitable manipulation of the hoisting 111121- chines D. the; same may becaused toinove upwardlyor downwardly upon the portions of the respectivecables which passthrough.

them, asfully explained in the Letters Patent for saidmachines,hereinbefore referred to. In raising or lowering thescaffolding itispreferable that the machines atlopposite ends of any particularplatfornrsection be operated alternately, so that first-one end of thesection and thenrthe other is moved 'to raise or lower it a moderateamount, such as ten to twenty inches. ,During theoperation of anyviofthe machines D, th latch 53, for

locking the sheave 5 .on the respective outrigger, isreleased by pullingon the .cord 11, so that the sheaves are free to'turnand thus enable thecable to run over them.v Then as the'innercorner of the.platform-sectionis,

moved by the raising or lowering of the vniachine, the outer corner.atthe sanieend is automatically kept at the same level byl thet runningof the cable over the sheaves. This automat c transverse"leveling of theplatform-sections at the end -tha-t is-being IadQ justed, is insured bykeeping the otheriend. of the section stationary and; level trans-jversely during-such adjustment. When this" is'done, any tendency of theinner side or: corner at the moving. end of the section to go to ahigher orilowerrlevel thanthe-outer, cornercauses a torsionalstress inthe body of the section, and, as the rigid integral structure .-of thesections prevents torsional deflections;- ,thereof, an .actuati gj forceis transmitted: top-theouterj corner such as to insure the cable runningover the sheaves on the outrigger, sufliciently to equalize the verticalmovements of the inner and outervco-rners of the section at the endbeing adjusted.

Now, having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is: a

1. In apparatus of the class described, supporting outriggers extendinghorizontally, acable for each outrigger, each cable having a horizontalportion extending parallel with the outrigger and vertical portionsdepending from said horizontal portion, means movably connecting thecables and Outriggers, a Wide substantially rigid platform-sectiondisposed beneath the outriggers and having one of the depending portionsof each cable immovably connected therewith atone side, adjusting meansfor connecting the other depending portion of each cable in varyingrelations to the other side of the platform, and releasable means forpreventing movement of the cables relatively to the outriggers.

2. In apparatus of the class described, Outriggers, cables connectedtherewith and depending from longitudinally-spaced parts thereof,platforms carried by said cables, tubular standards disposed around thecables above the platforms, and guard-rails having openings throughwhich the cables pass, the guard-rails resting upon and being support edby said tubular standards.

3. In an apparatus of the class described,

outriggers, cables connected therewith and depending fromlongitudinally-spaced parts thereof, platforms carried by the cables,tubular standards disposed around the cables above the platforms, and anoverhead covering for the platforms, having openings through which thecables pass and resting upon the upper ends of said tubular standards soas to be supported thereby in spaced relation to the platforms.

4. In an apparatus of the class described,

rigid integral substantially rectangular plat-' form-sections disposedwith the ends thereof adjacent to each other, supporting outriggersdisposed above the adjacent ends of the platform-sections and extendingparallel the ends thereof adjoining each other, supporting Outriggersdisposed above the adja cent ends of each pair of platform-sections, acable for each outrigger, means for detachably connecting one end ofeach cable with the respective platform-sections at points near one sidethereof, hoisting devices detachably connected with saidplatform-sections near the other side thereof, the cables extendingcontinuously from the deta'chably connected ends thereof over theOutriggers and thence to therespective hoisting devices, the cablesbeing movable over the Outriggers, and means for controlling 1 movementsof the cables and maintaining the transverse level of theplatform-sections.

6. In an apparatus of the class described,

a platform, vertically extending cablesconnected with and supportingsaid platform, shielding means disposed adjacent to said platform, andmeans for supporting said shielding means comprising parts looselyengaging the cables but retained in position laterally thereby.

EGBERT WHITNEY.

Copies of this patent may be obtainedfor five cents each, by addressingthe "Commissioner ofPatents,

Washington, D. 0. V

